We made NHS!

Ok... Only L-Infinity, but we still celebrated it as a family! We are very pleased to read the following from the letter she got while in Choir today... Of course we found out after school, but she got the letter in the morning. Yes, she already did her happy dance and was able to be "cool" about it when she was hinting in the car. ;-)


I'm glad the shot turned out clear enough. I can never tell unless I'm looking at the computer screen.

So now you know; no one will be home on that day. It's Mr. Man's day-off and we will take our children out to dinner to celebrate. Plus we just found that she'll be among the few that made it to the Honors Night in the next few weeks after. So yes, we won't be home then either...

A big thank you to all of those who helped her get accepted. Her service hours were 10 times more than what was required and her recognitions, grades and leadership experiences put it over the top.

A great news after a bad one yesterday, don't you think?

Also great news:

~I wanted some dark purple and white tulips, found them at Tom Thumb

~I made a list of "must buy" for my dish collecting, found one of them at Target

~I had a great lunch with one of my awesome neighbor and friend Amy, then we also hit some model homes and "critiqued" the decor, lol!

~I-Dude got a good behavior stamp today. Awesome!

~J-Pony received the "Frog Award" in Science today for exhibiting all 6 character traits. Great!

~I was able to get a friend of mine a hand mixer, thru Freecycle, that has a dough hook since she loves to bake!

~J-Pony found her long lost 2nd pair of "training" CZ star & 10K gold earrings. You know the kind that had to be shot into your ear at the local mall? We thought we've lost it in Arizona since she had to take them off from constant tugging that it was irritating her ears.

I hope you all had a great day!

Albertson's Did it Again! Grrr!

Albertson's have been so confusing with their sales to much of our inconvenience and frustration, but there is no denying that they hold the best sales around when they do, at least in our area. So when they erroneously crossed procedure with a hawkeye shopper, the fireworks were inevitable to go off. Let's just say they are lucky again that it was me they dealt with...

After our major pantry, fridge and cupboard raid the last two weeks, it was time to get groceries again, and since Albertson's this week, had the best deal around for meats and cereals, we went there this morning. Well, at least that's what we thought...

We followed the whole ad, we paid attention to the price tags- all in the name of stretching the ol' dollar. I don't know about in your area but here, they had a lot of BOGOF plus draws of 20% off for certain items. If not for the coincidence of our stock dwindling for the similar items on sale, I wouldn't have bothered to come there. Grrr!

So today after receiving something from a fellow Freecycler, we headed to the Albertson's near us.

With ads on each hand, we grabbed all the sale items we needed to stock up on and replace meat in our bare freezer. We successfully filled up our carts and we hit the registers. The first three, and I mean only the first three, rang up right! Mr. Man and I had to go back and verify the price tags that we saw and calculated against our set budget. The cashier also sent someone to verify our claims. WE WERE RIGHT!

So the attempts at compensating us commenced and were completed, or so we thought. Upon loading all the items in the van, I did what I always do, check the receipt again. I'm glad I did because 5 items were clearly not taken care of! So we go back and as before, we checked the price tags before we complained to the Customer Service. In between, we caught up with Bruce, who we found out later to be the store's director! He confirmed we were right- again! He told us that we were entitled to one of the three similar items FREE, so we took it up to the counter at CS.

While we explained the error to the associate, another manager came up and with attitude, tells us that we were wrong! Then she proceeds to tell us, "Do you want BOGOF or 1 item for the sale price?" What?!

She then explains that this particular store, starts swapping the new weekly sales tags, THE MORNING OF THE LAST DAY OF THE CURRENT SALE WEEK, making the sales overlap for a full 18 hours! I don't know about you, but who is to know that? Their new sales tags do not appoint any dates on it making it to any unsuspecting shopper- the current sales price.

This said manager went on and on and then tried to lay it to us by giving us the same choice. BOGOF or the upcoming sale price. I looked at Mr. Man, took a deep breath, and calmly addressed this manager, "Please, please... do not make us look like we don't know how to interpret your ad. It was your mistake for not placing any warning about your procedures. To us, we shop according to your shelf tags and what's in your ad." I looked around to take another breath and two people, one of them another manager, nodded in agreement with me, looked at the one "correcting" us and signaled her to back off. I continued with, "May I remind you that we met your Store Director, Bruce and he didn't know why there are two different tags for similar items down the candy aisle. So, how do you expect us to know the difference?" (Mr. Man knows that when I am super calm during tense situations, I am at my clearest thinking mode and to watch out, so he was quiet the whole time.) It would seem that the other associates, now four witnessing all this, all took up agreeing with me and telling this borderline rude person to back off. I didn't look away from her, waiting for her to give us a response.

Mr. Man took the opportunity to ask, "How do you expect anyone to know what your procedures are in transitioning between sales?" She then found her voice and replied with, "That's true, I don't know how. I agree." Then proceeded to tell the CS cashier to "just do whatever you need to do" and left. I was both relieved and livid. She had no business interrupting what others have already told us. We were entitled to compensation for our inconvenience and she was making us choose because she overlapped the price tags?

All in all, they ended up owing us over $24. And I learned never to come into Albertson's during a big sale on the last day!

How was your Tuesday?

FHE: Our Home as a Temple

I am so psyched that I actually went through with the whole 40-day Love Dare Challenge. Whew!

Today, Mr. Man and I-Dude had haircuts. Mr. Man had his usual #3 at Fantastic Sam's while I-Dude, we tried the Cool Cuts 4 Kids nearby. Yes, we are helping our local businesses. ;-)

BEFORE:

AFTER: What do you think?

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It's another Monday and that means Family Home Evening! In light of the recent General Conference, we chose a topic that truly hit home to us, especially me... Making our home be like the temple. We also recognized that temples are our Lord's homes here on earth. First of all, let me be the first one to admit that we failed the cleanliness factor as we always have something we can improve on. LOL Ok, moving on...

During dinner we discussed how we have made our own home be like the temple as temples are for our Lord Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, pointing more to our current residence. These are what we came up with:

We eat together on most nights as a family- temples are for the salvation of families and its members

We love each other no matter what- temples are built to show Heavenly Father's plan of love for us thru His Son, despite the harm of our abuse of our free agency.

We welcome all to our home but keep out bad influences- temples are sacred buildings.

We share the gospel to others thru service and examples- temples are built to help Heavenly Father fulfill his plan for all of us because of His Son's atoning sacrifice.

We testify of the Lord's divinity every day- temples are towering examples of our belief and love for Jesus Christ, our Savior.

We are an eternal family- temples are built to teach us of that reality.

How did General Conference warm your home?

Brownies Anyone?

Today in between General Conference, we decided to do what we did last year, make brownies! This time, in our pantry, we found four boxes of three different flavors.

We shared them with four of our neighbor families and they loved them! I guess a new tradition is born for Sunday Conference.

Last year, for the October Sunday General Conference, I made dark chocolate fudge brownie cupcakes. Today, I made...

Chocolate Fudge...

Milk Chocolate Chunk (it had chips inside)

and Dark Chocolate Fudge!

Do you want some?

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Day 40

Love is a Covenant

"And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:"

Ruth 1:16 KJV

DARE:

Write out a renewal of your vows and place them in your home. Perhaps, if appropriate, you could make arrangements to formally renew your wedding vows before a minister and with family present. Make it a living testament to the value of marriage in God’s eyes and the high honor of being one with your mate.

What I Did:

As we are Mormons, this is not something we do.

But in honor of this dare, I will recommit my life to my husband.

Yes! I'm done, I'm done!!!

Conference Fill-up

Today, for Conference, we played Lingo Bingo and had another creative lunch. We loved hearing about provident living, service, having faith, temple attendance and obedience.

Now that we know we have a lot of edible ration in our house, I have been "playing around" with more impromptu, mixed-up recipes. It's actually really fun to do!

In the fridge, I found some leftover pasta, about two cups of spaghetti sauce, and the taco meat we had Thursday night. Knowing me, you know I'll come up with something! I heated up the sauce in a pot with 1 tbsp of olive oil, then I added the meat in and added some parsley, black pepper, garlic and parmesan cheese. When it was heated through, I added in the leftover pasta and tossed it until all was covered. Wouldn't you know it, I created a Zesty Spaghetti Sauce that even Ian liked! He and Jas do not normally eat any red sauce.


After the first conference, we picked up L-Infinity from her ACT Exam at another high school in the district. It is the science counterpart of SATs. On the way home, we stopped at the store for some bread and next to it, was a Boy Scout Troop 753 garage sale. We stopped and I found a very cute a three-piece blue and white Asian creamer set for $1.50! The original price for each were still on all three and it was a surprise that I found them. In Asian stores, the dishes are so expensive, it's almost painful to look at them. It's not fine bone china, but I love the way it looks! The pictures will be posted on my tablescaping blog on Monday.

Tonight, we just enjoyed some more of the spaghetti with some toast, corn and mandarin oranges...

One more day, and I'll be done with the Love Dare Challenge I started! Woo-hoo!

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Day 39

Love Endures

"Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."

1 Corinthians 13:8 KJV

DARE:
Spend time in personal prayer, then write a letter of commitment and resolve to your spouse. Include why you are committing to this marriage until death, and that you have purposed to love them no matter what. Leave it in a place that your mate will find it.

What I Did:

I don't need to write a letter; Mr. Man and I, we recommit our love to each other on his days off by talking about all of that we've gone through and our goals for the future.

Off to the Dentist Again!

Today was dental visits for J-Pony and I-Dude. Then lunch at McDonald's. It's a family tradition for every after medical visits.
For Mr. Man, it was driving and some sleep. Then off to fix the dryer exit hose.
For L-Infinity, it was helping her boyfriend's family get setup for a community garage sale tommorrow.
For me, just some rest and Visiting Teaching. Got to visit two of my friends. Yes, it's a very productive day for all of us!

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Day 38

Love Fulfills Dreams

"Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

Psalm 37:4 KJV

DARE:
Ask yourself what your mate would want if it was obtainable. Commit this to prayer, and start mapping out a plan for meeting some (if not all) of their desires, to whatever level you possibly can.

What I Did:

I know that he wants us to have enough for a second car soon, so I will pray for that.

The Next 5 Years...

I got this random question from Megan of Infertile Myrtle.

If you knew you couldn't fail and money was no object, what would you like to do in the next five years?

I would definitely set up my children's college funds in different CDs and UPromise. Then I would buy our dream home complete with a big land, a huge library of classic books and a big china room to house all of my dinnerware sets that I'm collecting to start a rental business on... I'd also travel to China and Spain to do my genealogy and visit all the temples. I would convince my mom to live with us and hire the best doctor around to care for her...

Oh, that would be wonderful...

Artichoke: Our Golden Veggie

Why? Because J-Pony eats it!

Our pretty J-Pony is very picky and would not eat veggies outside of potato (chips), fries, and corn. We've tried spinach, carrots, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, but no luck. Then one day, back in AZ, Mr. Man and I made a big deal with how artichoke is so good, L-Infinity joined in, then I-Dude got in on the act. After two times more of that and J-Pony joined in. Since then, she's loved artichokes!

She still can't take the whole thing but check this out: This is her plate and she neatly placed them on one side to show exactly how many leaves she ate. She asked us to take a picture and blog about it, so here it is... :-)

We were lucky to find artichokes for 99 cents each at Kroger. It's a very seasonal veggie and we don't particularly like the jarred variety. When it is on a great sale like 99 cents each, we grab six, have one each and later, as an inexpensive date, Mr. Man and I share one over a TV episode we follow.

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Day 37

Love Agrees in Prayer

"Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."

Matthew 18:19 KJV

DARE:
Ask your spouse if you can begin praying together. Talk about the best time to do this, whether it’s in the morning, your lunch hour, or before bedtime. Use this time to commit your concerns, disagreements, and needs before the Lord. Don’t forget to thank Him for His provision and blessing. Even if your spouse refuses to do this, resolve to spend this daily time in prayer yourself.

What I Did:

Since praying together is really a challenge for us, we make sure that we at least pray with the kids during mealtimes and before bedtime.

Lara's Giveaway- A Cute Kufie Cap!

The Crafty Moms made the cap but Lara of Overstuffed is giving one away! Plus you get a choice of up to three different colored ribbons to go with the cap. Very cool!

So come check both sites out!

2 Down, 2 To Go...

I have two final essays to write left, but the first two I finished, I did very well on! (Yay! Can I get a woot, woot?)

We didn't have a smooth morning. J-Pony and I-Dude woke up twenty minutes before they were to catch the bus, but again, they were able to eat in the cafeteria at school. It was picture day but I forgot to write out checks for them last night so Mr. Man and I drove down to deliver them. But first, Jasmine called asking if we can bring her and Ian good picture day shirts because they forgot to change out of their pajama tops! In the afternoon, it was quite different. I don't know if it's the weather, but we've had a fairly quiet time so far... I-Dude got a behavior stamp (good), J-Pony had a good time at school and L-Infinity thought her Health textbook is funny. No visits until the kids came home. Only 2 phonecalls and after the kids got home, they did homework quietly, voluntarily, and read right afterwards. Are we having a good day? Why yes, we are and I for one am very grateful for that because we've had worst and I feel like I want to celebrate my two recent "A" papers before my "frazzled, computer hog for finals" alter ego takes over again in a few days. LOL

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(From IStockphoto.com)

Day 36
Love is God's Word
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
Psalm 119:105 KJV

DARE:
Commit to reading the Bible every day. Find a devotional book or other resource that will give you some guidance. If your spouse is open to it, see if they will commit to daily Bible reading with you. Begin submitting each area of your life to its guidance and start building on the rock.

What I Did:
It's hard to do this because Mr. Man's schedule at the moment is subject to change at a moment's notice, so instead, I tell him of the different scripture passages associated with each dare and discuss them.